Help an LSAT tutor out re: the GRE verbal section Forum

[jbriggs]

I've been tutoring the LSAT for Powerscore for a few years and was asked by a family friend to meet for a couple hours of tutoring for GRE verbal this Friday (they take test on Saturday). Anyone have any experience taking/tutoring that content? If you do, what advice do you have for me as far as preparation- which LSAT skills might translate, what skills does it test that the LSAT doesn't, and what are some key skills to have going in to that test? I would appreciate any insight you might have, and also any advice as far as advance prep for me to do prior to meeting on Friday. I'm not being paid so I don't feel the need to master the material but I want to make the time worthwhile- Thank you very much for your insight

[tomwatts]

Basically, it's really different. It's a fair bit easier, but it's also just not the same, even with the stuff that seems similar. I don't teach GRE, but I took the test about four months ago (right after the change).

There are some one-paragraph reading comprehension questions that sort of look like LR questions, but they just feel different from LSAT questions. They were modeled on GMAT questions, so you'll notice that what you normally say about LSAT arguments doesn't always fit perfectly.

There are some multi-paragraph reading comprehension questions that sort of look like LSAT RC questions, but this is almost as misleading as it is helpful. The style is different, even if some of the general principles apply.

And then there are a bunch of fill-in-the-blank-with-this-vocab-word questions in various formats, which have no resemblance to anything on the LSAT. They sort of look like SAT questions, but sort of don't.

Oh, and the timing and overall section strategy are significantly different. (Adaptive by section, etc.) And it's on a computer, so if you saying anything about annotating, it applies differently or not at all on the computer. And the essays are scored, and some programs do care about them.

[MachineLemon]

There is a free practice test program offered by ETS. Take it and see what's involved.


http://www.ets.org/gre/revised_general/ ... powerprep2

[jbriggs]

Thank you both very much I appreciate it

[jetissent]

I don't know how this will translate to the new test--I took it in 2010, but I PT a 680 3 days before my test, bought Kaplan's 500 vocab words, and scored a 780 on the real thing because every single question had one of those words in it. If you're friend has a lot of free time between now and then it's totally worth the $20/headache.